


Coloured Filters

by orphan_account



Series: Ereri Week 2015 [7]
Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Acceptance, Asexual Characters, Asexual Levi, Day 7, Disabled Eren, Ereri Week, Fluff, M/M, Socially Awkward Characters, soul mates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-06
Updated: 2015-06-06
Packaged: 2018-04-03 02:38:16
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,595
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4083484
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Day 7: Soul Mates || “I’d give it a shot. This love thing. If it was you, I mean. I don’t think I’d try with anyone else.”</p>
            </blockquote>





	Coloured Filters

**Author's Note:**

> Since my laptop is going to be dead before tomorrow, and I don't have a way to charge it, I'm tossing this up a day early. Good for you, shitty for me (haha). Thanks for sticking through with my writing for Ereri week. Peace out!

He hated the concept of soulmates. His childhood friends always spoke about it, the two having fallen in love with each other early in life, and matched each other perfectly.

“We’re soulmates, Levi, that’s why! We were  _made_  for each other!” Isabel explained, and Farlan, red-cheeked, nodded in that love-struck way he did whenever Isabel said something like that.

But Levi had never felt that pull, that spark, that desire to be with someone the way his best friends did. He watched them fall in love, court each other, accept each other, bind themselves to each other for better or worse. He had stood at Isabel’s side, handing her over to Farlan in place of her non-existent father, and then stood next to Farlan as his best man as he said his vows, handing over the ring that would stand for his life-long commitment.

They had thanked him, over and over, for being there for them in that moment. Had even gone as far as offering to return the favour. But it would never happen, because Levi was incapable of loving another person.

So instead, he watched them grow older, start a family, and move on without him. Now he was pushing forty, single, childless, and lacking a person in his life who would complete him. He didn’t believe in soulmates. He didn’t believe in love.

He loved his job, though. The smell of aging tombs, the silence that befell a sanctuary of literature, the whisper of turning pages as people delved through his bookstore, debating on buying a world contained in ink and bound together by hope and despair. Little moments of escape, currently buy-one-get-one-at-half-price (of equal or lesser value, of course). So when a loud laugh cut through the silence, Levi was drawn to it like a moth to the flame.

“I doubt she’d appreciate the sentiment,” a wry voice responded, and the laughing started again.

“It’s totally her though! I mean, she’d try to throttle me, but it’d be worth it. So, so worth it.”

“May I help you?” Levi cut in, his words ice in the heat of the mirth the two radiated. Both froze, turning to look down at him, which Levi was far too used to by now.

“Yes, actually. Do you have any recommendations for a young woman who enjoys epic fantasies?” the blond asked, and the brunet snickered, covering dusky lips with a dark hand.

“The only epic fantasy she has is riding her favourite stallion into the sunset,” he joked, and the blond flushed a deep red. Levi didn’t have to believe in the concept of love and romance to understand the reference, and his nose wrinkled in disgust at the lewdness the kid so freely tossed in.

“Keep your shitty comments to yourself,” he said, before answering the blond with a list of suggestions in both teen, young adult, and adult novels. The boy nodded furiously, his eyes calculating and evaluating each of his words in a manner that was, frankly, quite intimidating.

“Hey,” the kid said as his friend abandoned him in pursuit of the perfect book. “I’m sorry. Sometimes my mouth moves before my mind checks what’s coming out. I didn’t mean to be gross.”

“Shit happens,” Levi muttered, and the kid smiled brightly.

“Hopefully shit happens in the bathroom, and not here. That’d be awful to clean up.”

Levi stared blankly at the kid, who stared back before flushing red.

“Point in case,” he mumbled, covering his face with his hands. Levi took sympathy, patting the kid on the shoulder.

“I hear you. It’s only happened once, and the perpetrator’s mother was deeply horrified.”

Eren sniffled, laughing wetly, and to Levi’s horror he realized the kid was crying.

“Shit, kid, it wasn’t that awful. Don’t cry. Please. I don’t handle crying well.”

“I’m sorry! I don’t have a mental filter!”

“Oh god, he’s doing it again,” he heard from behind him, and the blond moved to wrap his arms around the brunet, patting him on the back.

“Hey, just calm down. It’s fine. Right?” He looked at Levi as he said this, and Levi nodded, more of a jerk of his head but it sufficed for the blond.

“See, he said it’s okay. So it’s okay.”

“Really?” he sniffed, looking up with watery eyes at Levi. Who did the jerky nod again, and like a switch was flipped he smiled, eyes drying and cheeks flushing.

“Good, because you’re really hot and I’d hate to piss you off by being myself.”

Levi just nodded, unsure as to how to respond to that.

* * *

 

The kid was back the next day, a bright smile on his face as Levi spotted him bouncing in place at the front counter.

“Hi! I wanted to come say thank you because Mikasa - that’s my sister - really liked the book we got her. And since you’re the one who helped Armin - that’s my friend from yesterday - I wanted to come and tell you that because I don’t think you get many compliments here, just complaints because you always look so grumpy and pissed off—”

“Okay, I get it. You’re welcome. Stop talking.”

The boy snapped his mouth shut, his cheeks flaming red. Levi sighed, covering his face in exasperation.

“You can talk. Sorry. That was rude of me.”

“No, I talk too much. I hear that a lot.”

“You don’t talk too much,” Levi said, realizing he really wasn’t cut out for human interaction. Fuck the concept of soulmates, Levi could barely manage to make friends. “You talk just enough. At least you’re fucking honest.”

“…That’s true. It’s hard to lie when my mouth is a never-ending cesspit of verbal vomit.”

“I bet that sounded better in your head.”

“Yeah, it did.”

* * *

 

It was on the kid’s fourth visit he finally learned the boy’s name.

“I’m Eren! I can’t believe I’ve been in here four days in a row and I’m finally telling you!”

“Levi. And it’s not as if it ever came up in conversation,” Levi said, shelving the new books that had come in yesterday. Eren was sitting on the stool, watching and making comments about whatever crossed his mind - quite literally.

“You’re the only person who listens and doesn’t tell me to shut up every ten seconds,” Eren said on his seventh visit in just as many days. On his twentieth visit Levi took him out for coffee. On his forty-fifth visit Levi was beginning to realize that this was more than making friends.

He still didn’t believe in soulmates.

“You two are so cute together. Like a train-wreck decked out in rainbows and sunshine,” Isabel said, watching as her husband watched in a horrified fasciation at the speed with which Eren spoke, coupled with his tendency to say the first thing on his mind.

“What a lovely mental image,” Levi said, disgusted at her audacity.

“A bit young for you, but your match. Who else could handle my favourite grumpy Gus?” she said, smiling as Eren broke out into laughter at the same time Farlan turned a deep shade of red.

“I don’t know how he does it,” Levi admitted. Isabel’s smile softened.

“Because you’re a wonderful person, Levi. You refuse to see that, though.”

It was on their 112th meeting - which yes, Levi was counting - that he heard Eren say those three little words that Levi had never believed in.

“I love you,” he said, leaning against him as they watched Gordon Ramsey bring another potential chef to tears. “Thought you should know. I know you don’t believe in love, but that’s okay. I still love you.”

Levi blinked, staring at him with a growing sense of dread, and oddly, warmth. His cheeks flushed, and they matched the redness in Eren’s.

“I’d—” Levi said, feeling more like he was 14 and just discovering new uses for his penis instead of a 38 year old man who  _should be less like a 14 year old discovering his penis can do new tricks_. “I’d give it a shot. This love thing. If it was you, I mean. I don’t think I’d try with anyone else.”

Eren’s smile was worth the effort, and Levi found himself returning it weakly.

When he told Isabel, she gave a squeal and latched onto him, drawing the attention of everyone within twenty feet. Levi was trying desperately to pull himself free, and with Farlan’s help, they detached the overenthusiastic redhead from Levi’s body. But when they sat down to eat, she gave a large smile that was filled with warmth and happiness.

“Levi, soulmates don’t have to be in love. It’s not about someone who is your other half, the one to make you whole. It’s the person who matches you. Who makes you feel a hundred-and-ten percent. Who’s worth the effort. Who thinks you’re worth the effort. Even if you never fall in love with him, he can still be your soulmate.”

“You might not believe in them, but it’s hard not to notice that’s what you two are.”

Levi chewed his food thoughtfully, wondering if Eren would agree with them. But, Levi realized as he climbed into bed, Eren pressing against his back and throwing an arm over his waist, that it didn’t matter. Levi didn’t need to believe in soulmates to understand that a life without Eren in it would turn dull, boring, and mundane quite quickly. Eren was the splash of colour in his monochrome existence. And when he told Eren this, it was worth seeing the smile spread across his flushed face.

“I love you too, Levi.”

**Author's Note:**

> Read more stories on Tumblr: [Annoyinglittletwit](http://annoyinglittletwit.tumblr.com)


End file.
